Campaign donations capped in Edmonds city elections

  • By Oscar Halpert For the Enterprise
  • Tuesday, March 9, 2010 8:25pm

EDMONDS — Following more than an hour of debate, the Edmonds City Council March 2 passed an ordinance capping municipal campaign contributions at $500 per person. Other proposed limits ranged from $250 to $80 to 80 cents.

The proposal presented by Stephen Bernheim, council president, takes effect March 12 and places no limits on candidates’ personal contributions to their own campaigns.

Councilman Strom Peterson cast the lone “no” vote and urged the council to postpone its decision until similar legislation making its way through Olympia is signed into law.

“I thought there was a perfectly reasonable solution coming to pass in two weeks,” Peterson told The Enterprise. “The state already has all the pieces together, including enforcement. I think we just created work for staff that we didn’t need to.” He agreed that there should be some sort of limit.

State law limits contributions to campaigns for state offices, large counties and large port districts to $1,600 a year. The proposed state legislation would put an $800 limit on municipal elections per election. The bill still requires Gov. Chris Gregoire’s signature to become law. The legislation would allow cities to set their own limits as long as they don’t exceed the state limit.

Cities currently face no such limits, although Kirkland, Seattle and Issaquah have their own contribution caps.

Bernheim said he sought the cap as a preventive measure to forestall what he called the possible corruptive influence of large campaign contributions.

Councilman D.J. Wilson questioned whether the cap would achieve the desired effect, arguing that a political action committee could still raise unlimited money.

State law allows unlimited contributions to PACs, except in the last 21 days before an election, during which the limit is $5,000. Those committees face the same restrictions as individuals when contributing to a candidate.

Edmonds City Council campaigns have been among the most expensive statewide. Last campaign season, seven of nine candidates reported their income to the state’s Public Disclosure Commission at a combined $130,730 — putting the city in the top nine statewide.

During public comment, Edmonds resident Dale Hoggins urged the council not to set a cap. “On the surface, this sounds fair,” he said. “But the opposite is true. A challenger has a steep hill to climb to unseat an incumbent.”

Oscar Halpert writes for the Herald of Everett. Enterprise editor Mina Williams also contributed to this report.

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